


incompletion

by viodef



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Runaways (Comics)
Genre: Character Study, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 02:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16338074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viodef/pseuds/viodef
Summary: (Sometimes something gets caught in his eye, and it’s, like,reallyannoying.)(Sometimes, even though he’s gotten used to being just a head, really, he has, Victor’ll reach for something, on instinct, and find that he can’t reach anything.)





	incompletion

**Author's Note:**

> warning for implied suicidal ideation

Victor Mancha is, for lack of a better word, incomplete. 

It’s difficult to miss. After all, he’s nothing but a head.

Not that he minds, of course. Why would he? He can still talk. He can still think, even if there was a time—rather recently, in fact—that he didn’t want to be able to do even that. 

(Sometimes he still doesn’t want to be able to do even that.)

(Sometimes his thoughts get to be too much.)

And he can still get around just fine. There’s lots of things he can attach his head to! Sure, nothing with actual limbs, but, hey. He’s better off. Everyone around him is better off. He can’t hurt anyone if he’s just a head.

(Sometimes something gets caught in his eye, and it’s, like, _really_ annoying.)

(Sometimes, even though he’s gotten used to being just a head, really, he has, Victor’ll reach for something, on instinct, and find that he can’t reach anything.)

It’s nice to just get carried around sometimes, too. He can also get shoved into Molly’s pile of stuffed animals with ease. It’s comfortable. It’s nice. It’s reassuring. There’s a lot of good things that can come out of being nothing more than a head!

As just a head, he can’t hurt anyone. The fact that he can still… _exist_ without a body makes him think he must take more after his father than he would’ve liked. Victor doubts that there’s many humans or half-humans out there that can survive decapitation, after all. 

Really, though, he doesn’t need to doubt. Victor, being a huge nerd, knows pretty much everything about superheroes, and _those_ guys pretty much make up the majority of anyone that might just be able to survive a classic beheading. And he knows there’s really not that many. 

Man, he really does love superheroes.

But that love was just programmed into him. Just like everything else about him. Like his personality. Like his future. 

He doesn’t like think about his future. He figures a lot of teens don’t like thinking about the future. So, at least _that_ part of him’s normal. 

(Sometimes he thinks about Vin.)

(Sometimes, when he thinks about Vin, he thinks about his dying words.) 

[“ _I will not become Victorious._ ”]

(He really thought, with his heart torn out of him, that his death would be permanent. That there would really be no way for him to become Victorious.)

(Then he had to go ahead and wake back up.)

\---

“So, when you were an avenger, did you give yourself a codename?”

Gert’s question breaks him out of his reverie.

“Can’t believe both you _and_ Nico ended up joining actual _teams_ ,” she mutters as she waits for a response. 

“Sorry?”

“Avengers.” Gert repeats. “You. Codename. Superhero name. Whatever.”

“Ha, right,” he huffs. “A few, actually. I… tried mixing things up pretty often.” 

Victor doesn’t mention that he was sort of scrambling, a bit, to find one that would stick as soon as possible. Just to avoid the whole ‘Victorious’ thing as much as possible. Not that any of his own codenames ended up being any good. Though, now that he thinks about it, ‘Victorious’ was kind of a dumb name, too. He must’ve picked up crappy codename-making skills from his father.

“Yeah?” Gertrude hums, her lips quirking. “Wanna enlighten me?”

“‘Skull Boss’ was one of them, if you want a really strong first impression.” 

She laughs, and he grins. 

Victor doesn’t actually like thinking about his time on the Avengers. Sure, he didn’t end up betraying and killing them all, so that’s a plus. He met Doombot and got to know his grandfather a bit more. More positives. But he also worked with Vision, and then he had to spy on him and his family, and then… 

Well, the rest is history, as the saying goes.

“Okay, ‘Skull Boss’,” she stifles further laughter, “you got any more codenames to share?” 

Victor sighs, and then he smiles. “What’s your opinion on ‘Wolf Swag’?”

“‘ _Wolf Swag_ ’!?”

And just like that, she can’t stop laughing.

Victor tries to laugh it off, too. 

\---

Getting tied to Chase’s backpack can be pretty uncomfortable. The string digs into his skin when it’s too tight, but he runs the risk of falling if they’re too loose. He hasn’t been dropped by anyone yet, but if he can help it, he’d really rather avoid it. 

Still. Strings? Uncomfortable. 

All wrapped up in thread. 

Not to mention that low angles are never quite as flattering as high angles, and being situated right in front of Chase’s chest, just below his face, really makes that fact of life evident to Victor.

So he voices his complaints.

“Sorry dude, I only got so many hands.” Chase shrugs, and that causes his bag to shift, and that causes Victor to shift. “Wasn’t expecting this thing to break down on us, though.” He knocks on the quadcopter, before shoving it halfway into his bag, which moves Victor around even more. That’s all added on top of the constant bumping up and down with every step that Chase takes.

“It didn’t break down, it’s just out of battery.”

“Eh. Same thing.”

“No, not really. Not at all, actually.”

“Are you flying around on it at this very moment? No?” He pauses for emphasis. “Then it’s the same thing.” Chase _would_ cross his arms if his backpack and Victor's head weren't already occupying his chest.

Victor rolls his eyes. 

He lets himself get carried back to the ‘Steinbus’ without any further complaints, even though the string keeps sinking into him, and even though the constant movements of his head that are made without his volition are a constant nuisance. 

Also, the low angle just really isn’t all that becoming of Chase. 

\---

“Victor!”

Molly’s excited and enthusiastic voice is unmistakable. She sounds happy, and Victor can’t help but to smile. 

“What is it?”

She walks in, holding the balloon basket. There’s an extra rope attached now, one that Molly is holding while the basket itself floats up above. “With this thing,” she gestures to the new addition, “now there’s no need to worry about you getting stuck on the ceiling again!” 

Victor laughs. “Yeah, I guess not. Not unless you let go, or something.”

“That’d never happen!” Molly huffs. “Not on purpose, at least. Now, c’mon! Wanna give it a try? It’s new and improved!” She pulls on the rope and brings the basket down to reveal to Victor a small stuffed animal inside. “I even added some company.”

“Nothing out there that can’t be improved with stuffed animals,” he concedes. “Alright, mind getting me in there?” 

Molly beams, and she excitedly places Victor into the basket. 

“Are you comfy in there?”

Victor tries to nod in response, but it’s a bit difficult. “Yeah,” he says instead. “I’m comfortable.”

“Good! Okay, prepare for lift-off!” Molly makes sure she has her hand on the rope, before letting go of the basket. Victor drifts off towards the high ceilings, slowly floating away. For a second, he thinks he’s going to keep moving up, going until he’s gone, and—

He stops. 

Victor peers down at Molly, who gives him a thumbs up, proud of the efficacy of her alteration to the basket.

“Pretty great, right?” she brags.

He doesn’t respond immediately. 

“Pretty great,” he finally says. 

Molly carts him around the house, holding onto the rope as if she were holding onto a balloon. 

\---

Nico and Karolina seem happy together.

Victor’s not a mind-reader or anything, so he can’t be certain, but… 

Well. They just seem happy together, that’s all. 

They’ve both had a lot of experience with loving and losing.

He knows Karolina still feels guilt about the past, but he also knows that she’s dealing with that clawing feeling in her own way. 

Just how is _he_ dealing with it, then?

Sometimes, Victor wants to approach Karolina and ask her how she copes. How do you escape that regret? That hollow feeling of self-condemnation? The guilt that’s like a vise around your mind? 

He never does ask, though. 

It’d probably just end up being uncomfortable for the both of them. It’s best to just avoid that altogether. 

And Nico…

Well. He’s heard stories about Alex. 

None of them were particularly positive, though. Alex apparently almost got them all killed, though, so that’s understandable.

And then there was Nico and Chase (sort of, not really), and then Victor himself. 

_That_ was short-lived. More things to feel bad about.

Anyway. 

From what Victor can tell, Karolina and Nico seem happy together. Even if they’re really not, sometimes.

And there’s nothing he can do about it.

\---

Victor Mancha isn't complete.

That’s fine, though. 

He’s better off that way.

**Author's Note:**

> yeah this is just some super self-indulgent nonsense lol
> 
> lmk about any mistakes and stuff i guess!! ty for reading! <3


End file.
